The REPort - Issue 5 - Christmas 2018

Issue 5 December 2018

A very warm welcome to this festive edition of The REPort This winter issue celebrates our commitment to making theatre accessible for all and explores some very special festive treats we have in store for visitors and audiences.

We hope you enjoy reading this issue and would like to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Rachel Cranny Head of Fundraising

In this Issue: - Comfort and Joy - Art Surgery - Festive West End Success - A Big Thank you - Ramping Up - And The Winner Is - Love Culture - REP First - Events section Written by David Roberts

Comfort and Joy

REP, including the wizard, a very big thank you.

We’re off to see the Wizard, the wonderful Wizard of Oz. What better way to celebrate Christmas than follow the yellow brick road (or even Centenary Square), singing as you go? Our spectacular reimagining of this classic tale runs until 13 January.

If the thought of ice cream brings on the winter sniffles, add mulled wine and mince pies to your order at our Marmalade restaurant. Fixed price menus are available at £19.50 for two courses or £24.50 for three. For more details or to book, call 0121 245 2080 or visit www.birmingham-rep. co.uk/our-place. Come and enjoy some seasonal myrrth; strike gold with our frankly myrrh-vellous fare; you won’t leave Myrrh-malade incensed (audience groans, author booed off).

Make sure you spare time to look round the foyer. Art and Design students from Birmingham City University have created a fabulous new exhibition inspired by all things Wizardy and Ozzie. Puppets, images, figures, animations: they’re all here alongside the show, into January and free of charge.

Here today and slush tomorrow, usually - except for our beloved The Snowman, standing tall and walking in the air since 1993. We thought he deserved a silver jubilee celebration and ice cream suppliers Criterion Ices agreed. So, while we’re transporting you to Oz, we’ll be urging you to look for Snowman tokens deep in the Arctic recesses of your interval ice cream tub.

The lucky winners get free ice creams on their next visit! Those lovely people at Criterion have been doing a bit of Santa stuff too, generously supporting our work with children and young people. From the whole team at The

We all like surprises at Christmas, so come and unwrap the secrets of how we bring a show to life. We’re running Family Backstage Tours on two days over the Christmas break: Friday 28 December at 11am and Thursday 3 January at 11am. Experience a thrilling journey from rehearsal rooms, the costume department, the workshop and finally the stage.

And if you’re hoping for the perfect Christmas party to amaze friends, enchant colleagues, impress the boss, and spread comfort and joy to all, our team at Unique Venues Birmingham have got a stocking full of unforgettable celebrations for you.

To find out more visit www.uniquevenuesbirmingham.com

Festive West End Success We are extremely excited to be celebrating a hat-trick of West End successes, as three of our very own productions open in London this month. And, they all happen to be Christmas shows.

Nativity! The Musical, which premiered at The REP in October 2018, opens at the Eventim Apollo on 19 December. Patrick Barlow’s The Messiah opened at The Other Palace on December 11th and the theatre’s long-running production of The Snowman is currently celebrating its 21st consecutive season at The Peacock.

All three shows were produced, built and premiered

by The REP and success of them is part of the theatre’s focus to extend the life and profile of the work made in Birmingham.

Art Surgery The cowardly lion hopes for courage, the scarecrow yearns for a brain, while Dorothy discovers the value of home.

Every character in The Wizard Of Oz has their own quest. The Tin Man’s is to find a heart: the perfect inspiration for a project with Birmingham’s ground-breaking Queen Elizabeth Hospital, one of only seven places in the country to perform heart transplants.

Heart disease is a major national problem. In the UK, someone dies from it every three minutes. Seven million people have to live with it. One in five patients in need of a transplant never receives a heart, which means thirteen hundred die waiting. The QEH performs two to three heart transplants a month but it needs the latest equipment and the latest research to keep ahead of a fast-developing field. The Tin Man sums it up: ‘Hearts will never be practical until they can be made unbreakable’.

That’s why we at The REP have chosen to fundraise in partnership with the hospital this Christmas and are donating a quarter of the money raised during the run to the QEH, with the remainder supporting our REP First campaign enabling our work in disadvantaged communities of Birmingham. It’s what you’d expect of a theatre with a heart, at the heart of its city.

‘Once I had brains, and a heart also,’ muses the Tin Man; ‘so, having tried them both, I should much rather have a heart’.

P.S. We think we have brains too.

Stuart Rogers, Executive Director at Birmingham Repertory Theatre explains: “The REP now prioritises securing a future life beyond Birmingham for as many of its productions as possible, often through coproducing with commercial producers, other regional theatres or touring companies.

“We have one of the best-equipped production facilities and a group of highly-skilled carpenters/ metalworkers, scenic artists, costume makers, lighting and sound technicians all housed in the building and can therefore offer a high-quality onestop shop in which to create the new shows of the highest quality.

“We’re delighted to have three productions running simultaneously in London throughout December.

We hope that both The Messiah and Nativity! The Musical go on to have as long and successful Christmas lives as The Snowman has enjoyed.”

Ramping Up

A Big Thank You!

Ramps on the Moon means productions for deaf and disabled performers (The Government Inspector, Tommy, Our Country’s Good), but it also means providing for off-stage skills.

Our Big Give Christmas Challenge is over again for another year and thanks to the generous support of our wonderful donors we raised a fantastic grand total of £7,760!

In 2017, with funding from the Regional Theatre Young Directors Scheme, we ran the UK’s first ever Introduction to Directing programme for deaf and disabled directors. It was a twelve-week programme for seven emerging talents with workshops, masterclasses and a public showcase.

These vital funds will make a real impact on our work with vulnerable and isolated adults in the local community.

Getting started is one thing; sustaining development is another. That’s why we applied for more funding from Ramps On the Moon’s Agents for Change programme. We wanted to offer emerging deaf/ disabled directors the chance to engage fully in the life of a full-scale production by assisting our directors, observing rehearsals, attending programming and commissioning meetings, and being mentored by two of our Associate Directors, Tessa Walker and Daniel Bailey.

We asked for funding to cover three such residencies so that budding directors could be paid a modest fee as well as having their expenses and special needs covered – but above all, so they could feel they belonged in a place like The REP, strengthening their confidence and stimulating thoughts about their own work.

Well, we asked for three and they gave us enough for four. Thank you Ramps On the Moon! We’re now welcoming four talented young deaf/disabled directors to watch The Wizard of Oz take shape.

As a direct result of the challenge we will now be able to offer 20 fully funded bursaries to our adult drama group, welcoming participants who would otherwise be unable to take part.

We will be able to run a monthly playreading group in the heart of the community in a local library, and finally we will also be able to help fund interpreters for our adult drama group allowing deaf individuals to participate.

The Big Give Christmas Challenge is the UK’s biggest match funding campaign.

This year the national challenge raised an incredible £13.3 million for good causes across the country.

The success of the campaign proves yet again that we are a nation of philanthropists and believe in making a difference.

Our Head of Fundraising, Rachel Cranny said “We are extremely grateful to everyone who played their part in our challenge.

Together we can now give the gift of theatre this Christmas, allowing participants to grow in confidence and forge lasting friendships.

Thank you!”

And the winner is…

Sunday, 14 October 2018, and London’s historic Guildhall is packed with the best of British theatrical talent for the annual UK Theatre Awards. There are 49 nominees across 15 categories: everything from Best New Play to Best Touring Theatre to Best Audience Development. Among three nominees for Best Promotion of Diversity is… The REP! Why? That would be our work with Deaf/Disabled Directors; our Furnace project supporting people with visual impairment; the work placements we offer to people with particular learning needs; our Foundry project supporting young disabled artists; our partnership with Ramps on the Moon that has brought dozens of disabled performers to our main stage; our relaxed performances; our project with the Open Theatre Company which has seen us working with five special schools over the past year and even produced a sign-language Romeo and Juliet; not to mention our massive communityfocused Woyzeck, which featured a number of disabled performers among its 100-strong amateur cast.

So, it’s no wonder the winner of the 2018 UK Theatre Award for the Promotion of Diversity is…The REP!!!

Accepting the award, Artistic Director Roxana Silbert spoke for us all: ‘The words theatre is for everyone get used a lot but unless our stages and the audiences we attract are truly reflective of the diverse country we live in these words are meaningless. I’m proud of everyone at The REP who has truly embraced the meaning of diversity across all our work - on stage, with artists, with local communities, and with young people. Our commitment to diversity is not just in our mission, it’s in our DNA’.

REP First We are thrilled with the success to date of our REP First campaign. Our ambitious fundraising appeal has now passed the half way point towards reaching it’s target of £1million! Thanks to the wonderful generosity of our donors, funders and sponsors, the total raised currently stands at £540,000!

The funds raised will have a vital impact on the work we are able to produce and the stories we are able to tell. The support for the appeal will allow us to welcome new audiences, nurture emerging artists and theatre makers and use theatre as a tool to bring communities together.

Love Culture: Hate Cuts.

We need your support We need your support in reversing the proposed cuts to funding for arts and culture in the Birmingham City Council 2019/20 Budget.

A winter warmer

Since 2010 most of Birmingham’s cultural organisations have faced cuts of around 80%. The proposed additional cuts would have a huge impact on Birmingham’s cultural sector which makes a vital contribution to this city’s economy and reputation, benefitting hundreds of thousands of Birmingham residents each year.

The council’s budget plans are currently out for public consultation, and Birmingham’s arts organisations are working together on a campaign to reverse the proposed cuts.

Here’s how you can help:

Early in 2018, The REP placed five artists in community settings across the city to work together with a range of diverse community groups, some established and others created, to make and perform theatrical moments based on their personal experiences. View our short film from the ‘Making of’ Furnace Hubs 2018 – a REP programme of making theatre with, for and about communities in Birmingham and the Black Country. https://youtu.be/7rf0U92mBaY

REP Events

Sign the petition here: https://www.change.org/ p/love-culture-hate-cuts#BrumBudget19

REP Friends Event: Combined Backstage Tour of The Old REP and The REP including Afternoon Tea Date TBC

Share and shout about the campaign on social media.

5 February Student Drama Showcase

Comments need to be made to Birmingham City Council by 31 December 2018.

29 March – 25 May Young REP Theatre Festival

Thank you!

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